environmental crime
environmental crime. A statutory offense involving harm to the environment, such as a violation of the criminal provisions in the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970, the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972 (commonly called the Clean Water Act), or the Endangered Species Act of 1973. • Although the most significant environmental-crime statutes were passed in the 1970s, they date back to the late 19th century, with statutes such as the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1896 and the assorted statutes that ultimately became the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899. — Also termed crime against the environment.
